Religion and Modernization in Europe

The crossroads for modernization are traced back beyond the Reformation towards the 11th and 12th century. The schism between Rome and Byzantium and the concomitant struggle for superiority between the Emperor and the Pope paved the way for the difference between the spiritual and the secular, and hence for a functional differentiation of society. Scholasticism became the first system of thought beyond traditionalism and laid the foundations for modern rationalism and individualism. The Christian heritage as well as the meaning of religion have been transformed in the process of modernization. The interaction of structural and cultural aspects of the processes are emphasized.